Marquez does it again: ninth consecutive pole at Sachsenring. Pedrosa improves to 10th

Qualifying day of the German GP followed one of Marc Marquez’s classic patterns. The reigning World Champion dedicated the FP3 and FP4 sessions to finalizing his bike’s setup in order to understand the tyre feedback and to test the limits to which he could push himself and his RC213V.

With all the dots connected, Marc and his team proceeded to Q2 with a clear strategy in mind: three attempts—with a long slide and an unplanned (but also unsurprising, really) near-crash—to take his ninth consecutive pole at Sachsenring. The 1’20.270” lap was a new pole record for the circuit, Marquez’s third pole this season, his 48th in MotoGP, and the 76th in his career. Chapeau.

The outcome from the other side of the garage was also positive enough, with Dani Pedrosa able to improve from yesterday’s 20th place to 10th this morning, earning a direct passage to Q2. The eventual 10th place in Q2 still may not satisfy Dani, but it will give him the chance to try and recover in tomorrow’s race, which begins at 2 p.m. local time.

Marc Marquez

Pole Position1'20.270 (NEW RECORD)

“Honestly, I didn’t really feel we would be able to take pole today, but we did and it’s fantastic. The team planned the perfect strategy, which was to try and use three tyres, and I think that’s what gave me pole position. I knew the two Ducatis were very fast on new tyres, but already during my second run, I understood that I would be able to push more on my next and final exit, on the hard tyre option, which was the one I was feeling best with. I did it, but I also made a few mistakes, one in turn three where I nearly crashed! Anyway, I kept pushing and pushing on my final lap, and finally 25 thousandths of a second gave me the pole. I’m sorry for Danilo [Petrucci], but we’re both on the front row and that’s what ultimately counts. Regarding tomorrow, I think we’ll have two races—I mean the first 15 laps and the second 15 laps. In the first half, everyone will be fast but in the second half the tyres will drop, and that moment will be the key. We’ve worked a lot to try and keep our pace on used tyres in the high ’21s, but it’s tough and will also be tough tomorrow.”

Dani Pedrosa

10th1'20.831

“Today we made a good improvement from yesterday, but we’re still struggling to find the correct setting in some areas, particularly to fully exploit the new tyres in qualifying. So unfortunately, our grid position isn’t very good, also because lap times were very tight. Overall, we did improve our race pace, so tomorrow it will be important to try and start well and then manage the tyres well over race distance.”

MotoGP 2018Saturday, July 14th 2018

Qualifying
Round 9
Motorrad Grand Prix DeutschlandGermany

Qualifying Classification

Sunny

Humidity

45%

Track Temp

46°C

Air Temp

24°C

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'20.270

2

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

0.025

3

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Mission Winnow Ducati

Ducati

0.057

4

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

0.171

5

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Mission Winnow Ducati

Ducati

0.174

6

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

0.262

7

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

LCR Honda

Honda

0.405

8

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

0.412

9

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

0.430

10

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

0.561

11

Rins Alex

42

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

0.577

12

Nakagami Takaaki

30

JPN

LCR Honda

Honda

0.668

13

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1'20.972 Q1

14

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

0.308

15

Miller Jack

43

AUS

Pramac Racing

Ducati

0.432

16

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

0.491

17

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

0.536

18

Syahrin Hafizh

55

MAL

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

0.709

19

Rabat Tito

53

SPA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

0.795

20

Redding Scott

45

GBR

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

0.998

21

Bradl Stefan

6

GER

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1.051

22

Luthi Tom

12

SWI

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1.261

23

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

1.408

24

Simeon Xavier

10

BEL

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

1.958

Gallery

Images are copyright but free for editorial use.

Location Information

Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no… read more.

Location Information

Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no… read more.